New constituencies out; Ashanti increases by 8, Volta, 4

Joy News has intercepted the breakdown of new constituencies created by the Electoral Commission.

The EC chair met with Members of Parliament during which he released the new constituencies amidst some contestations from the Minority.

Dr Afari Gyan said the new constituencies, 45 were created using a formula which will not discriminate against any region.

Per the release the number of constituencies in the Ashanti Region has increased from 39 to 47. Volta Region increases from 22 to 26 the same as Western Region.

Central Region increased from 19 to 23, Eastern Region increased by five more constituencies from 28-33 whilst that of the Greater Accra Region increased from 27-34.

In the Upper East two more constituencies have been created, putting the figure at 15, with the figure for Upper West Region increasing by one from 10-11.

The Northern Region increased from 26-31 with the Brong Ahafo also experiencing an increase of five constituencies from 24-29.

Figures gleaned from EC sources put total number of registered voters to 13,628,817.

Over one million of the total number of registered votes do not have valid codes, Joy News' Sammy Darko has learnt, with the EC promising to validate the figure in the coming days.

The total figure will however increase after the EC conducts the biometric registration exercise in Akuse.

Akuse was exempted from the exercise due to legal tussle over whether the EC had the mandate to bring Akuse under Greater Accra Region. Per a Supreme Court ruling, Akuse should still remain under the Eastern Region.

Joy News' Sammy Darko reported the meeting with Afari Gyan was smooth but not without some contestations by the Minority.

According to him, the Minority demanded to know what permutation went into the creation of the new constituencies.

Explaining the formula used, Dr Afari Gyan said the formula puts the population of Ghana at nine with one land mass. The EC therefore divided each region’s population by nine, a strategy he said proved reliable and equitable.

Dr Afari Gyan also stated that the EC has made adequate provision for enough verification machines to be provided at all polling centres, adding about 50 per cent of funds have been made available by government for the project.